Process of treating wood to extract turpentine and rosin therefrom.



PATENTED OCT. 24, 1905. J. W. PIVERU ND ROSIN PROCESS OF TREATING WOOD T0 EXTRACT TURPENTINE A THEREFROM. APPLIOATYHI mum DBO. 9, 1904. 2 SHEETSSHEBT 1' wow/nag 8 UNITED s ATEsT PAT NT OFFICE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 24, 1905.

Application filed December 29,1904. Serial No. 238,822.

' To all whom) it may concern.-

Be it known that I, JOHN W. PIVER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Cordele, in,

the county of Dooly and State of Georgia, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Processes of Treating Wood; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to improvements in processes of treating wood, and it is especially designed for the treatment ofwood con taining pitch and gum-such, for example, as southern or Georgia pine.

The object of my invention is to find apractical and economical way for treating in large quantities wood of the character described in order to extract the resin and the turpentine therefrom. My process, generally speaking, stops short of the destructive distillation of the wood, and after my process is finished the fiber of the wood is uninjured. The particular use to which my process is to be put is in the drying of lumber, extracting therefrom at the same time the turpentine and resin without injuring the fiber thereof, and the treatment of all sorts of material--such as chips, shavings, and refuse of any sort-containing resin and turpentine, in which latter case it is immaterial whether the fiber is injured or not.

With this object in view my invention consists in the process hereinafter described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings, which illustrate an apparatus adapted to carry out my process, Figure 1 is a perspective view of the complete apparatus for carrying out my process, parts being broken away; and Fig. 2 isa cross-section of the same, parts being shown in elevation.

at represents a kiln made in the fashion of an ordinary drying-kiln, with brick sides, a brick top 6, and a floor 0, of cement or other suitable material. At each end the kiln is adapted to. be closed by large swinging doors 0?, which when shut close the kiln, rendering it practically air-tight. In practice any cracks or crevices which may exist after the doors are shut are stopped by a suitable luting, such as clay or mortar.

6 represents tracks running through the kiln from end to end, supported on beams f.

9 represents a wagon or truck provided with wheels, which engage the rails, upon which the material to be treated is piled, as shown in Fig. 2. Preferably the material is packed in layers, as shown in Fig. 2, separated by strips of wood in order to afford a free circulation therethrough.

The bottom 0 of the kiln slopes inwardly, and at the lowest point it is provided with a discharge-pipe it, which runs into a large receptacle 11, preferably sunk into the ground by the side of the kiln. This pipe after the doors d are closed affords the only outlet to the kiln.

' It may communicate with the atmosphere or,

if desired, it may enter a liquid seal.

Preferably the bottom 0 of the kiln is cooled byacirculation of water, which enters through the pipes 1'3" and passes out at the other end through the pipes Z 76. This is not strictly necessary, however, as the resin and the turpentine separated from the wood will condense on the bottom 0 without the use of the water-pipes; but this condensation is facilitated by the use of said water-pipes. The floor 0 is cooled simply for the purpose of preventing any excess of vapor, should the apparatus be running at a high rate of speed, from escaping through the pipe h. This floor 0 is of course inclined from the end where the pipes j j enter toward the end where outlet-pipe it is located. For convenience the set of water-pipes, the entrance and exit of which are denoted by the letters 7' j and kit, is made in duplicate.

Extending lengthwise of the kiln a are a se ries of steam-pipes Z, arranged along the sides thereof, m and m representing the entrancepipes, and a and n the escape-pipe. This arrangement is of course in duplicate.

Located outside of the kiln is a retort 0, into which enters a steam-pipe p, the steam escaping through the pipe g.

vided with a screw-cap r, by removing which turpentine may be introduced into the retort 0.

8 represents a pipe leading from the top of the retort 0 and passing in through the top of the kiln into the pipe t, which runs practically the whole length of the kiln and is provided with a number of orifices by means of which the turpentine-vapor is spread out over the top of the wood under treatment.

The operation is as follows: After the truck containing the wood to be treated has been run into the kiln the doors are closed and luted. superheated steam is then introduced through the pipes at m and through the pipe 9. The air contained in the kiln rises along the sides thereof and of course descends This retort is pro to about 212 Fahrenheit, which may be ascer-1 tained by means of a thermometer let into the sides of the kiln in the usual way. The retortois then started into operation bytheintroduction of steam through the pipe 2, and the vapor of turpentine comes down over the surface of the wood, and as it passes down through the wood condenses thereupon and extracts the resinous and gummy matters therefrom in a liquid form, which slowly drips down from the wood onto the bottom 0, Whereupon it passes out through the pipe it into the receptacle 1'. Any moisture which may be contained in the wood has by this time been ex pelled, passing freely out through the pipe it, and,if a liquid seal is not used,escapinginto the open air. After the process is continued for some time and the interior of the kiln gets hotter and hotter the turpentine in the wood, and more especially that in the top of the kiln, which is the hottest, begins to volatilize and assists the action of the turpentine-vapors com ing in through the pipe 8, which at this time may be entirely out off. The process is then carried on, the heat constantly rising until it reaches about 320 Fahrenheit, at which time practically all of the turpentine and resin in the wood has been extracted and has been discharged through the pipe it in the shape of a thick though freely-flowing fluid.

In case it is desired to dry lumber the heat never should be carried to such a high temperature as that just described. In fact, it is unadvisable to carry it much over 225 Fahrenheit in the process of drying lumber. Therefore if the material treated is to be used as lumber afterward the process cannot be carried on as fastas if the material to be treated were not valuable as lumber, and the supply of turpentine-vapor coming in through the pipe .9 must not be stopped. 1n

j' fi f" f case, however, refuse wood is to be treated, the remainder being'used for fuel or the making of paper-pulp or any other similar desired purpose, the operation can proceed much faster and the heat be carried to a considerably-higher degree. In all cases, however, the heat should be prevented from rising high enoughtoefi'ect the destructive distillation of the wood, as I do not desire to obtain creosote and similar products.

. Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to obtain by Letters Patent, is

1. The process of treating wood to extract turpentine and resin therefrom, which consists in heating said Wood in a closed vessel to approximately the heat of boiling water, and then injecting turpentine-vapor into the Vessel containing said wood while so heated and continuing the heating operation, substantially as described.

2. The process of treating wood to extract turpentine and resin therefrom, which consists in confining the wood in a closed chamber, heating said chamber to a temperature less than is required for the destructive distillation of said wood, cooling the bottom of said chamber and forcing turpentine-vapor into the top of said chamber, substantially as described.

8. The process of treating wood to extract turpentine and resin therefrom, which consists in heating said wood in a closed vessel to approximately the heat of boiling water, and then iniecting turpentine-vapor into the top of said vessel, whereby the turpentinevapor is condensed upon the Wood, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

JOHN W'. PIVER.

Witnesses:

A. L. HOUGH, E. M. BRANDT. 

